CENTRE COUNTY — In local girls’ basketball, the District 6 Playoffs are set to begin on Feb. 16, and four teams — St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy, State College, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola — are presently qualified to participate.
The final seedings and first round pairings will not be finalized until Wednesday, Feb. 11.
It’s all happening at SJCA
What a week for the Lady WolfPack.
Forward Lauren Himes went over 1,000 career points in SJCA’s victory over East Juniata, and then guard Naomi Crispin scored her 2,000th point against Juniata, all while the WolfPack was wrapping up a wildly successful 21-win season with 19 consecutive victories.
The latest wins were over Juniata Valley, 76-36, Jersey Shore, 66-37, and Juniata, 69-26, which secured the team’s No. 3 seed in the incredibly tough, D-6 1-A girls’ rankings.
The WolfPack is just behind No. 1 Bishop Guilfoyle, 18-2, and No. 2 Bishop Carroll, 20-2, heading into the playoffs which are set to begin on Feb. 16.
Himes’ big basket came in a 14-point performance in the WolfPack’s 77-27 win over East Juniata on Feb. 3 at home.
Crispin, a senior signed to play at West Chester University next year, scored 29 points in the Juniata game while Jaycee Cunningham added 19 and Aubrey Yartz had 10.
The season — and the winning streak — left the WolfPack looking at the No. 3 position going into the playoffs.
If nothing changes, SJCA would match up in a home game against either Blacklick Valley (17-3), Purchase Line (15-7) or Juniata Valley (13-7) in the first round of the tournament.
Depending on the brackets, a victory in that game would set up a rematch with Bishop Carroll in the semifinals. The Lady Huskies edged SJCA, 62-51, in the second game of the season on Nov. 29 at Carroll.
State College girls to enter the playoffs
The State College girls’ basketball team had an icy first half against Central Dauphin at home on Feb. 4, and the Lady Lions could not make it up in a 46-38 loss to CD.
The Lions scored just eight points in the first half, went down by 15 at the half and then rallied back into contention heading into the final minutes of the game.
CD held on even though SC outscored the Rams by 30-23 in the second half.
Sienna Wilson scored 17 points for State College and McKenna Whitehurst had 10 as the team saw its six-game winning streak come to an end.
The loss left State College, now 13-6, ranked No. 2 in the D6-6A tournament rankings behind No. 1 Altoona, 16-4.
During the regular season, the Lions fell twice to the Lady Mountain Lions, but as it stands at this writing, SC would open against Mifflin County in the semifinals at home with the winner taking on Altoona.
From there, the D6 Champion will advance to the regional tournament.
Clearfield edges Penns Valley
The Clearfield Bison went 4-of-6 down the stretch from the line against Penns Valley on Monday night in Spring Mills and held on for a tight, 65-60 win over the Lady Rams.
Clearfield held the early lead in the game — by 9 points at halftime — but Penns Valley fought back and closed to within five points down the stretch.
But that’s when the Bison’s Eve Heisel and Elia Evilsizor kept their team clear from the line.
Paige Johnson led PV with 14 points in the game, while Ellie Romig scored 12 and Elle Dinges had 11.
The loss put the Rams at 9-11 for the regular season with games left against Juniata away and Bellwood-Antis at home.
How the team fares in both of those games will affect its seeding, but as it stands now, PV is No. 5 and would travel to No. 4 River Valley (11-10) for the first round.
Two wins for PV could move the Rams above River Valley and give them a home game to start the tournament.
Marion Center (19-2) and Central Cambria (16-4) are ranked No. 1 and No. 2.
P-O hanging on to No. 8
It seems pretty simple for the Philipsburg-Osceola Lady Mounties — beat Glendale and make the playoffs.
The Mounties are just ahead of No. 9 Richland, 5-17, in the rankings, but Richland has completed its 22-game schedule and can’t gain ground. A win by P-O, and the Mounties would retain the No. 8 and final spot.
P-O will come into the game on a three-game losing streak and is playing a team that is itself vying for a playoff berth in 1A. So everything is on the table for both teams.
A win by the Mounties would match them up with No. 1 Central Cambria (17-4) at Central Cambria or No. 2 Marion Center at Marion Center.
Other Scores:
Feb. 9
BEA 41, Bellefonte 31
